I don’t know about you, but when we travel, we always ask a local resident working at the hotel or grocery store, where the best place to eat in town is. We want to experience the food of the area we are visiting (and because my husband is a chef, we are a little picky about where to eat.)
While the internet is a great resource for finding local restaurants, it doesn’t tell you much about the quality of the food. And we all know that reviews on Yelp or another site like it, don’t necessarily represent what the restaurant is ACTUALLY like. This leaves us back to asking the locals where to eat.
Late last year, I found out about another option for dining out when traveling. (more…)
“What is it like to cook for a chef?” Depending on who you ask, you’ll get very different answers.
If you ask one my friends, they will tell you they are very nervous to cook for my chef/husband.
If you ask the parent or sibling of a chef, I don’t think they would think much of it since they’ve always done it Although they might ask a question or two if the chef is around when they are cooking. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)
If you ask an aspiring line cook what it’s like to cook for an Executive Chef in an interview, they’ll probably tell you they were very nervous because they wanted to do well and get the job.
But what about the wife or girlfriend or a chef? (Or husband/boyfriend . . . you know I never want to leave you out, it’s just awkward to always say all types of people in one sentence.)
I do the majority of cooking at home since I’m married to a chef. Most of the time it’s because he’s not home. But what about the times he is home? What is it like to cook for him?(more…)
And my friend Christy is still alive to tell about it!
AMAZING!!
I joked in this post about how we never get invited over to people’s homes for dinner because people are scared to cook for my chef/husband.
But last month, it actually happened! We went over to a friend’s house for dinner, AS A FAMILY!! The last time this happened was . . . well, let’s just say it’s been a while.
It was such a fun evening. The food was wonderful and our oldest daughter loved the soup so much, she asked me to get the recipe so we could have it again. 🙂
My friend seemed calm and relaxed the entire evening.
See? It’s really not a big deal.
If you don’t believe me, here’s what my friend Christy had to say about the evening: (more…)
When was the last time you looked at the hands of your chef?
My chef/husband is at work as I’m writing this, but I can picture his hands in my head . . .
The few scars on them from working in the kitchen for so many years. (One large one that I remember vividly from a catering event he did for my work 15 years ago.)
His left hand without a wedding ring when he’s working, as he gets a big callous when he uses a knife a lot while he’s wearing it. (This doesn’t bother me, in case you were wondering.)
The shiny appearance from being near the oven or stove on the line for an extended period of time.
Bandaged up with a bandaid or krazy glue, whatever worked better at the time.
Gentle enough to not crush delicate herbs.
Steady enough to plate small items intricately.
Holding a chef knife and cutting an onion so fast that my eyes don’t even have a chance to tear up.
Stained from working with beets when he was rushing and didn’t put gloves on.
Occasionally having a strange smell on them after work.
Seasoned to pick up a hot pan without a hot pad or towel.
Why is it that I always have these great big cooking ideas on days my chef/husband is working?
Oh, right, he works a lot. How could I forget? If I waited until he was off, I might never do it.
A few months ago I purchased 25 lbs. of rainbow carrots. I decided to can them because there was no way we would ever be able to eat them all before they went bad.
As I started to cut them, I began to get frustrated with myself.
Why in the world was I doing this on a day my chef/husband was at work?
While I have some basic knife skills, I’m not very fast.
